Chapter Eleven: Windows to the Soul
The one person she wanted to find her found her on the steps leading up to the school. He was walking with Ron and Hermione on their way to Care of Magical Creatures.
"Hagrid's bound to have something to…" Ron stopped.
"What is…" Hermione halted her question.
"Why don't people ever finish their…" Harry trailed off.
The contorted, bloody, beaten body of Jasna Marie Larden lay on the steps of Hogwarts, blood still seeping onto the clean steps.
"Jasna!" Harry cried, kneeling by her side and lifting her head on his
lap, "Jasna!" She looked up at him with dead eyes, glazed over with pain.
"Ha-Harry…" she choked, shaking her head.
"Jasna, you're alive!" Harry cried.
"Barely," Ron muttered to Hermione, who just nodded and ran to get a teacher. She ran head along into Draco Malfoy.
"Watch where you're going, Granger! Where's the fire…" but Malfoy saw the reason for her haste, "Jasna?" he asked. And there, the scene froze. Ron, Hermione and Malfoy watching on as Harry held Jasna's bloody head in his lap. With one last look, Hermione dashed into the building. Ron knelt down next to Harry and Jasna.
"I… I didn't know what to do… I was so scared…"
"You were brave, Jasna. Hold on," Harry
said. They both had tears in their eyes,
Jasna's was mixed with her own blood.
"I love you, Harry. I really do."
"I love you, too."
"Do you really?" Jasna was gasping for air.
Harry nodded and took off his glasses.
He held her close in a warm embrace.
He didn't care about what condition she was in. He didn't care about the gore, or the broken
bones, or the shortness of breath. He
had Jasna in his arms again, just as always.
He truly did love her. He adored
her. He kissed her softly. Her eyes were tired and warn.
"I didn't give in, Harry," she whispered, "I… I didn't give… in…"
"Jasna, hold on," Harry pleaded. Jasna gave a weak smile.
"Never give in, Harry," she whispered, "Never." Her eyes began to roll.
"Jasna!" Harry cried, giving her a shake. She blinked.
"Don't give up on us now, Jasna, you've come this far!" Ron said, comfortingly. Harry looked up at his best friend. Ron's blue eyes were full of concern and fear. Harry realized Ron didn't want to lose Jasna just as much as Harry didn't want to lose Jasna. The four of them, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Jasna had grown close over the past few months. And now, Ron was watching her die in Harry's arms. This was hard for him too.
Ron looked around, anxiously.
"Damn it, where IS Hermione???" Harry didn't answer. He was too intent on keeping Jasna conscious. He was afraid that if she lost consciousness for just one second, he would lose her forever. Draco was rooted to the spot. He wasn't saying or doing a thing. His face was wiped clean of emotion.
Hermione and Dumbledore hurried through the door. Dumbledore conjured up a stretcher and quietly told the three students to follow him.
Dumbledore gently lifted Jasna's limp body onto the hospital bed as Madam Pomfrey entered the room.
"I came as soon as I heard, Professor," Madam Pomfrey said, seeing the young girl on the bed, "I'm afraid the students will have to…"
"We understand," Hermione murmured.
"Work your magic, Poppy," Dumbledore said as he led the youths out of the room.
"Go back to your classes," Dumbledore told them, "You will be updated on her condition." Harry looked into his crystal eyes and saw a weakness in them he had never seen before. Harry nodded and Dumbledore disappeared into the hospital wing again.
For a while, the four of them didn't move at all. Harry half expect Malfoy to shoot a nasty comment at them. And he knew if Malfoy even tried it, Harry wouldn't hesitate in knocking him out. But Malfoy said nothing, he was just staring at the door.
"I never would have guessed…" Malfoy muttered. Harry, Ron, and Hermione didn't say a word. Malfoy started to shake his head and headed down the corridor. The other three watched his retreating back with extreme shock and sorrow.
Without warning, Malfoy stopped, his back still to the other traumatized adolescents. Finally, he worked up the nerve to turn around. He was looking down at the floor. The others were watching him, expectantly. Finally, Malfoy looked up and met Harry's eyes. Neither of them moved.
At that moment, an unspoken understanding passed between them. The eyes are the windows to the soul. And the two boys were staring straight into each other's soul.
Malfoy took a deep breath and held it for a moment. Finally, he sighed and looked away.
"I just wanted to say, Potter," he said, in an almost inaudible whisper, "That… Jasna's alright. For a Gryffindor, anyway. She's alright." Finally, Malfoy looked back up at Harry, who hadn't moved a muscle, and gave the first, sincere warm smile he had ever given him. He turned away again, and continued walking down the hall. Harry watched him until he was out of sight. Finally, he turned to his best friends.
"Come on," he said, "Hagrid will wonder where we went."
"Are we going to tell him?" Hermione asked. Her voice was nearly gone. Harry saw her eyes shine with new tears. She blinked and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
"I guess we have to, don't we?" Harry answered, "He'll know soon enough, anyway."
"Yeah. He'd want to know, too. He cares about Jasna." Ron nodded and the three went on their way to Care of Magical Creatures.
"'Arry!" Hagrid cried. He sounded more cheerful than he felt. He was worried for Jasna, but he put on a smile for the students. "Where 'ave you three bin then?" Harry, Ron and Hermione trudged sadly towards their classmates, who were busy trying to figure out what creature Hagrid had given them this time. They were talking about it in loud voices.
"What are we doing today, Hagrid?" Ron finally asked. Hagrid frowned.
"I'll tell yeh that when yeh tell me where you've bin!" Hagrid said. Harry sighed and looked at Hermione, who turned away from the other three.
"And what's wrong with 'er?" Hagrid added. Harry took a deep breath.
"They found her, Hagrid," he said. The whole class went silent. All muttering ceased, all complaints were hushed. Everyone heard what Harry had said, and everyone knew what he meant. They all looked up at him, expectantly.
"And?" Hagrid breathed, anxiously.
"And… She's in the hospital wing." Harry answered, sadly,
"They don't know how she's going to do."
"What 'appened to 'er then?"
"She…" Harry closed his eyes tight to keep the hot tears from falling. He felt them burning a hole through his skull at the back of his eyes, threatening to drive him mad. But he couldn't let them fall. Not here. Not now. He turned away from Hagrid and the class, in case his efforts to stop the tears were in vain.
Ron noticed Harry couldn't finish. He didn't blame him. And Hermione wasn't looking up to tell them what happened either. Ron knew someone had to tell them. But he didn't feel like doing it either. They'd all know by dinner anyway.
"You'll… You'll know tonight, I'm sure," Ron finally said.
"But Hagrid deserves to know now," Hermione muttered.
"No, no," Hagrid assured them, seeing how it upset them, "Ron's right. Yeh don' need to say anythin'. We'll be fine." Now, he addressed the class, "Now all o' yeh, pay attention to yer animal." Everyone went back to what they had been doing before except there was a new, quieter topic of conversation: What had happened to Jasna Larden?
"Now, 'Arry, I'd dismiss yeh students from class, but-"
"But nothing, Hagrid," Harry interrupted, "I want to be here. It helps to keep my mind off of things."
"Right. Well, then I'll be right back. I'm goin' to go get yer things." Hagrid turned away and walked towards the back garden. As Harry leaned against the cabin, with every ounce he had left in him, he whispered that terrible word.
"Tortured, Hagrid," he said, nearly inaudible. The pain and misery building up inside him was beyond tears now. He couldn't cry, even if he wanted to. But all of that misery, all of that pain, was expressed in the way he said that word.
"Sorry, wha' did yeh say?" Hagrid asked, turning back to them.
"T…Tortured, Hagrid, she was tortured," he repeated, softly. Hagrid had to clutch the wall of his hut to keep steady.
"She wasn't!" he cried. Harry nodded, sadly, and sunk to the ground. He buried his face in his hands. Hermione gave a small sob as she too hid her face in her arms.
Harry felt a large, comforting hand resting on his shoulder. He looked up into the face of the giant. But then, he looked past Hagrid at Ron. Ron was looking towards the castle at something; his face was impassive. Harry looked towards the horizon to see what he was looking at.
Walking patiently across the field as if nothing was wrong, his robes blowing behind him in the wind was Professor Albus Dumbledore. As he approached, the other students in the class looked up again.
"Is it true, Professor?" Hagrid asked him, "Jasna, she wasn'…"
"Not now, Hagrid," Dumbledore replied. He kneeled down next to Harry, "Look at me, Harry." Harry looked up into those beautiful blue eyes. They were soft with compassion.
"She's not d-d… Is she d…"
"Alive? Of course, my dear lad, and I'm sure she wants to see you." Harry straightened up. He noticed Hermione's head fly up from her arms and Ron whip right around to make sure Dumbledore had actually said what he thought he'd said.
"Would you excuse him from class, Hagrid? He has a dear friend waiting for him in the hospital wing," Dumbledore asked. Harry looked up at Hagrid, who nodded, understanding. Dumbledore pulled Harry to his feet with a warm smile. He then looked at Ron and Hermione.
"You two can come as well if you like, but only one with her at a time," he said to them. The other two followed the headmaster obediently and excitedly to the hospital.
As they crossed the school grounds again, there was only one thought going through Harry's mind: She's alive! She's OK! She's alive!
They walked down the empty hall in silence, Dumbledore in the lead. Finally, after what seemed like hours, they reached the hospital wing. Dumbledore turned to Harry.
"I'll call for you," he told him, and disappeared behind the doors to the room. Harry, Ron and Hermione waited impatiently outside. There was a question hanging in the air, unsaid and unanswered. How alive was she?
